Logan Mayor Holly Daines held a second public hearing at Logan City Hall last night to discuss allowing dogs into Logan City parks for a 12-month trial period. Eight parks are under consideration for the law change and the details are still being debated.
It is unclear if dogs would be allowed on-leash or off-leash and if the dogs would be allowed in parks at all times or only on specific days and hours. Public comment at the event was mostly in favor of the change, though Mayor Daines said she has received emails from Logan citizens who have concerns.
“I had an email from one autistic person who said if he sees a dog he really loses control," she said. "And he likes to go to parks with groups and so on. Also from mothers of children who were, just afraid of dogs, whether they’ve had a bad experience because of a bite. We’re trying to, through discussion, come up with a compromise that could maybe work to allow pet owners the opportunity, if they're responsible, to use some of our parks.”
Logan is one of only a few cities in Utah that, for the most part, do not allow dogs in parks. Police Chief Gary Jensen indicated that parks are not regularly monitored for illegal use by dog owners.
“We have three animal control officers," he said. "They’re stretched just managing calls for service, so preventative patrol is something that… it happens, it’s just not as frequent as perhaps we would like it to be. So chances are you may not get caught, at least immediately.”
However, he says, if dogs are caught in parks their owners would face legal consequences,
“Well it would be a citation, it would have a fine attached to it," Jensen said. "Depending on what citation it was would depend on the amount of the fine.”
If the city council approves the change, the 12-month trial period will provide time for city workers and citizens to assess the impacts of dogs in parks. After the trial period, the city council will decide whether or not to make the changes permanent.
A period of public comment is open until January 28. Comments can be sent to Mayor Daines at holly.daines@loganutah.org or director of parks and recreation Russ Akina at russ.akina@loganutah.org.
